On Our Own Here We Go
by BlankBlankBlankityMcBlank
Summary: Luna and Lincoln Loud are forced out of the Loud House when their drunk father comes home and threatens to kill his only son. All they have is each other in a struggle to survive in the gutter of society. Can they save their family? Will they even survive that long? A rocky coming to age story about a brother and sister trying to survive the cold world and inner demons that (Dead.)
1. Chapter 1: Death Of The Family

**On Our Own Here We Go**

 _Death Of The Family_

Life had been simple at a time. Survive School, hang out with his friends, keep the peace between his ten siblings. It was the happiest time of his life when he was able to act like the eleven year old he was, but he knew there would be a time he had to grow up and take control of his life.

Lincoln never expected to have to be the man of the house at twelve, though. The man who had once been a caring loving father was no longer. The divorce between Rita and Lynn Sr awoke a demon within the oldest male in the house. It was a fast downward spiral into alcohol and poverty that caused this evil entity to over take Lincoln's poor father.

Rita wanted nothing to do with Lincoln or any of his siblings. It pierced him like a blade to see how little he meant to his own mother, to see that she turned loose and instead of playing a part in his life, gave Lynn Sr child support.

It hurt Lincoln all the more that his father that even drained the money sent by his mother into gambling and beer to drink away the sorrow. It was truly the death of his family, long gone are the adventures of youth, replaced by going to bed hungry at night due to having to spare food for the younger children.

If any of them complained near Lynn Sr it was a beating waiting to happen. Bruises cleverly hidden by clothing were the punishment for being, "A fucking brat." nobody dare spoke out of fear for what a broken drunk mad man could do to psychologically and physically harm any one of them.

Lincoln does as he knows best: take one for the team. It's all he could do to help his sisters avoid the belt by taking responsibility for the mistakes that their father does not witness. This has consistently put Lynn Sr on Lincoln's case, waiting for, "the biggest little shit." to make a mistake so he can follow through with harsh punishments he could imagine.

Even with all that extra punishment Lincoln still failed. He failed to protect his sisters from the worst fate possible; Lynn Sr during his drunken escapades at the casino often made trips back home to pawn his own children's belongings for cash to gamble and do things Lincoln doesn't even want to think of.

Lisa's lab equipment, Lola's dresses and tiaras, Lori's cellphone, Luna's axe and speakers, Leni's valuable stylish clothing, Lynn's sports gear, Luan's comedy props and Mr Coconuts, Lucy's statue of Edward, and he even sold Lana's pet frogs to local kids for money just to fucking continue this path of self destruction.

Lincoln knew he had it worse than everyone else since his father stripped his room of all his furniture and sellable assets and replaced it with a small bed that looked like it was straight from the local penitentiary. He claimed it was to help pay the bills, but everyone really knew where all that money was going.

Depression was common for Lincoln, after all he had failed to stop his father from stripping his sisters of their identities.

The Loud House was no longer loud. It was blanketed by a fearful silence with all inside hoping that this time their father wouldn't come home and subject them to more terrifying punishments. Lincoln wishes that when he goes to sleep that he'll wake up tomorrow to the sounds of rock and roll, puns, arguing between the twins, phone conversations, and everything that characterises what this family used to be.

But when he wakes up in the morning it's to fear. He doesn't want to be afraid anymore, but what choice does he have? Maybe one day he'll get to walk away from this and build a life, maybe he'll get to see his niece's and nephews or his own child grow up away from this. Lincoln vows that he will never make his kids fear him, and Lincoln Loud **always** holds to his word.

The door to his room begins to creak open as Lincoln pretends to be asleep.

"Dude, are you awake?"

"Luna!"

"Shhhh, we don't wanna wake everyone up."

She slowly closes the door and comes into his room, the former rocker has bags underneath her eyes. "I can't even sleep at night anymore—I don't know how much more I can take of this Linc. It's just like all those years ago when I didn't even know who I was, my entire purpose for life is gone 'cause pops has an itch to gamble."

Lincoln gestures for her to sit down on his bed, "I know what you mean, this has taken everything from me but you guys. I had to break things off with Ronnie Anne because I didn't want her to suffer along with us—yes you did hear that right." he sighs.

The older Loud sat down next to him and out her hand on his shoulder. "I know the feeling, it killed me to break Sam's heart like that, but with crazy like this it doesn't mix well with people ya love. It's...agonizing to watch us burn like this, we were all pretty tight before everything got heavy."

Lincoln nods in grim understanding. "I really don't know how we're gonna get through this. Things will never be the same again. I feel like this is a trap that's gonna loop us around in the same place over and over. Lilly still has over a decade left of this to go through. I don't want to leave her, but more of this? It's gonna drive me mad!"

"I'm gonna get us out of this lil bro. I've been writing instead of sleeping and made some new stuff...it'd be better if I had instruments or anything to practice with..." Luna drifted off her chain of thought with a scowl over taking her features. She was well aware of the fact her pops was a good for nothin' wanker that has turned their whole family into an penniless wreck.

Noticing his sister's anger Lincoln looks on with concern. "Luna are you okay? Do you wanna talk to me about it."

Luna snaps out of her trance. "Oh sorry Lincoln, just angry...who am I kidding? I'm a wreck, this house is a wreck, our family is in flames. I've listened to so many songs about families goin down the can and I always thought we were better than that. 'Parently all it took was our parents divorcing to flush us down and out."

"It feels like one big ultimatum from my...comics: the villain gives the hero a choice to decide what is more valuable to them to force the hero to choose. Both usually have drawbacks, and it's kinda like our situation, but the hero usually gets out of it, but this is no comic and there is no good choice. We lose no matter what, it's that simple. We control how we lose, but it's gonna happen."

"There has to be some way out, it can't all be bad!"

Lincoln closes his eyes and grimly replies. "I'm the best planner in the family, every course of action we take has a bad ending. If we tell someone it comes at the expense of dad hurting one of us or worse, then we'll go into foster care. If we leave the police will have us back in a day and he'll be furious."

Luna knows this to be true, but there was one last thing they could do. "Lincoln...I don't wanna ask you to do this bro, but what if we...whack pops...for good."

"If we do that then most likely we get split up. Who ever did it will most likely go to trial, if they say it was in self defense then whoever did it is safe, but if they say otherwise it's juvie or prison time."

She thinks, "Yeah...nothing good can come from this...one big hit is all it will take to get us out of this hole. If I make one song that sells I can afford to get us out of here when I turn eighteen, then I can find somewhere safer than this. Pops can deal with jail and rehab on his own, maybe he'll get better. I dunno, but anything to get us out of this place."

Lincoln smiles for the first time in ages. "I know you got it in you, Luna. Just write from the heart and I know you can make something that'll have even Mick Swagger in awe."

Luna laughs, "Thanks bro! I know you always got my back, hopefully your right. I can go sneak back to my room and get the lyrics to some of my songs. Pops shouldn't be home for a little bit longer, don't ask me how I know either, I'm pretty wiped out in the sleep department but this is the only way out and Pops won't let me write 'cause he's paranoid as 'ell."

Lincoln stretches. "Sure, I'll read it for you, Luna."

Luna stands up and quietly makes her way to the door, she carefully opens it and leaves the door cracked open. She slowly walks into the darkness and into her and Luan's room. The comedian was in a deep sleep with evident tear streaks on her face. Luna went to her bunk and spotted her special hiding place which was a rip in the mattress that allowed her to slip things in and out of there without looking suspicious. She pulled out a note pad with scribbles of lyrics covering the pages.

She walks back into the hall, quietly closing the door and slipping back into Lincoln's room. She was pretty proud of the stuff she's got so far. The songs she's made all tell an interconnected plot line about the collapse of her family. She'd figured once she released it and got the story public there would be nothing to hide anymore and everything could be fixed...or at least she hoped it would be fixed. What this family was now is survivors, she doubted even a lifetime of healing could fully fix the wounds from the last couple of months.

She handed Lincoln the notepad and let him read it in his head. She would have personally sang it to him, if not for the fact that the walls were still really thin and the last thing anybody needed was to leave the safe haven of sleep early.

Lincoln read the album title, " _Tales from the Broken._ " and the first song was titled, " _The Castle Crumbles._ " and he read through the lyrics which went into depth on some pretty heavy stuff, obviously talking about some of the events and arguments that lead to their house/ the castle to crumble under pressure. It was relatable to Lincoln for the obvious reasons and it had some catch to it. He could help Luna out with the rhyming like he does with Lucy, after all even the best writers could use a little help.

"This is pretty good, you could work a bit on making the rhymes a little more effective but I think you can make this one work with a little fine polish."

She nods and takes in his criticism in stride. Luna knew if she planned on writing a bit the critics would need to be able to like it, and critics love bright polished pieces of work if she knew anything about the music business.

Lincoln flips the page, " _Reign of the Mad King._ " he closely reads the lyrics which describe the intimidation used by a "king." which can be easily related to anyone of power, which in this case was their father, exploiting his unwilling subjects for everything they had, including the souls of his kingdom. It also talks about how the king partakes in the, "choice beverage of evil." which causes the king to enjoy the pain in which he revils.

This one had a lot more work into it and felt like it was more passionate. The message and theme between the two were very clear and if the right audience took note Lincoln was certain that these songs would sell.

He had no doubt of Luna's musical prowess. She definitely studied the art with how much music she listened to and probably did still when she had a chance at school. Lincoln thought about the possibilities, maybe he could do some type of marketing campaign when it was time to reveal all. Maybe he could ask for Mick Swagger's help if they ever cross paths again, to sorta get the album spread around. Even if he thought there was a chance for this to fail, he would give his blood sweat and tears to insure that his sister still at least had a dream to keep her head above water.

The sound of the front door to the house flinging open stopped all forms of movement in the house as the sound of a pissed off Lynn Sr stomped in. Luna and Lincoln both froze, if Lynn Sr came in they were certain to be on the end of a beating from a irate drunk. Heavy footfall came as their father stomped upstairs, he was obviously coming to one of their rooms. Luna slipped underneath Lincoln's bed, hoping that if their father did check in on Lincoln she wouldn't be seen. Lincoln feigned sleep as he tightly shut his eyelids and rolled over.

Their worst fear was realized as stomping came closer and closer to Lincoln's room until the door flew open. The room was pitch black, minus the hall lights that created a silhouette of the drunk. The man stumbled over to Lincoln, who closed his eyes tighter.

Strong hands latched around his small windpipe as Lincoln came to the fastest and most horrifying conclusion he'd ever had; his father was strangling him. "D-Dad, l-let g—" The man yells, the smell of alcohol hit Lincoln in the face. "Shut the fuck up! I lost five grand tonight because of your bad luck, it should be fine though since your whore mom will send me more soon, maybe even give me a kiss at your funeral."

All of a sudden Lynn Sr lost his grip and smashed head first onto the floor. Luna yelled to him as she ran out from under the bed. "Follow me Linc, hurry!"

He didn't hesitate to listen to Luna as he booked it out before his father could get back up. "If I get my fucking hands on either of you I will kill you!" Lynn Sr howls at the two siblings who are retreating out of the house. The yelling had awoken the other girls, but none dared move a muscle out of sheer fear for what could happen, even Lynn Jr was afraid of what her father was capable of.

The two ran on adrenaline alone as they ran as far from the Loud house. Lincoln calls out to his sister. "Wait Luna follow me!" Luna turned to Lincoln as he gestured out to the trees. "It might be a little spooky, but I built a secret tree house over in there incase a fight got too out of hand. It has some snacks and sleeping bags, we can roll up the ladder so if Da—I mean that monster follows us we can just roll up the ladder, he's gonna be too drunk to do anything about it."

The two walk through the woods in a dazed state. Lincoln pointed the way by pointing to the words. "Ace." carved into the sides of the trees. They eventually stumble upon a large structure in the trees with a ladder going up it. Luna marveled at the structure, "Bro how did you do this?" Lincoln chuckled. "I challenged Leni to a tree house blue print making competition, then me Clyde, Ronnie Anne, and Clyde's dad's helped me work on it since they know how it can get for me. Good thing I never got around to telling—" a tear rolls down his face as Luna gives him a hug. "That was pretty bad back there, I won't make you go back there. We can find a way to make this show rock even though we didn't choose the venue."

Lincoln sniffled and nodded as he walked to the ladder and began his climb up, and Luna followed him up as soon as there was enough space. It was a bit exhilarating to see the night sky and the moon from this high up on one of the tallest trees around. Once they both got inside they immediately saw how spacious the thing was for a tree house. It was easily twice as big as Lincoln's room, "Whoa, I'm surprised you didn't spend all the time in here, this is one sick crib! Is that a mini fridge?"

"The McBride's said I could only use it in the most dire situations and with—" he chokes back a sob. "With the way things have been I couldn't get away from the house...until tonight." The hurt and terror on Lincoln's face made Luna feel like she'd just been punched in the gut. "Look, the old man is a bum who gave up on family. That strips him of the right to call himself family once he gives up. I haven't given up on you or our siblings, neither have you, right?"

Lincoln nods. "Yes..." Luna smiles, "See? As long as we got each other and our family, it'll be okay...just watch."

The boy yawns, "I think it's time for bed little bro." he shakes his head 'no'. "Um, Luna...do you mind if I get something to eat?" he says with his thumb pointing to the mini fridge. "Sure dude, get me a drink while your at it. I'm kinda thirsty."

He pulls out an ice cream sandwich from the freezer part and a soda from the fridge. He tossed Luna the soda and she opened it as soon as caught and took a big sip. "So much better." She takes notice of what Lincoln has and Mike reconsiders not asking for one. "Actually, Linc toss me a 'wich. I haven't had one of those in forever!"

Her optimism cheers Lincoln up slightly as he does as asked and tosses Luna a sandwich. The Rocker rips the wrapper off and takes a bite. "So good, you feelin any better, Bro?" Lincoln nods cautiously. "We gotta get out of here tomorrow. I-I can't be this close to him, not after this."

Luna thinks things through, "I think we should stay here and plan things out. We have some food and protection from the outside, plus if there is any reason to worry we can just pull the ladder up. He's gonna be dealing with all that alcohol tomorrow. He's gonna be in no position to hurt us, especially after he face planted."

A small smirk graced both siblings at the memory of Lynn Sr hitting his head on the floor after Luna pulled his legs out from under him. The two finish eating and speaking as they both grew more tired and got into the sleeping bags, Luna's was a little small but it didn't matter so long as her and Lincoln were safe from the man they both once loved.

"It'll be alright lil bro, I'll keep you safe..." Luna says in a sleepy tone while looking at the sleeping face of her brother.

"It's a promise."

* * *

 **And SCENE!**

 **Welcome to Chapter One of my story. I hope you enjoy the experience of this first introduction, although it was shorter than I hoped, I still think it satisfactory.**

 **The title of this Fic comes from "Brain Stew." by Green Day for those who think it familiar , even though I made it plural to account for both of the featured siblings. I also think it fits the characters and situation of the story quite well.**

 **The story will focus on Luna and Lincoln trying to make a home that is safe for their sisters after the Loud family crashed and burned quite suddenly. They'll have rough times and good times, but the only consistent thing will be each other.**

 **I think this premise works on the base of how close the characters are and how I think they'd have a natural dynamic to play with even though it isn't heavily featured in the show. Do not expect many cameos from unimportant side characters, too. Just sayin',**

 **F/F/R to show support for the story.**

 **And goodbye and see ya next time in a hopefully longer chapter in On Our Own Here We Go**

Key

 _Italics: Inner Monologue/ Chapter title._

 **Bold: Intense Emotion/Story Title**

Regular: Spoken/ Quotations


	2. Chapter 2: Home is Where The Heart Is

**On Our** **Own Here We Go**

 _Home is where your heart is._

The crisp wind blew through the hair of the brother and sister walking the lonely sidewalk. Both shiver and hold their arms to their body to warm them up. The cold Michigan night was brutal for Lincoln and Luna due mostly to the fact they had no winter clothing.

Inwardly Luna had spent the entire walk across through the woods and the town cursing her father with every rancid curse that she could think of, she even had enough time to invent more words to describe her anger for the man who turned her dear brother into a traumatized mess, and to think if Luna wasn't there...he'd be a dead man even if she had to spend the rest of her life in prison.

Time to think at the tree house had given the two a chance to plan things out. Lincoln's fear made things a bit difficult since he was unreasonable about finding a place to stay. He was deathly afraid of running into their father once more, the poor boy wanted to leave the state. Luna knew they couldn't do that because they actually had friends here and if they didn't go to school the cops would be on top of them and send them back.

He had spaced out after that and it made Luna seriously worry for him. Lincoln was all she had! To watch his anxiety take such a strong hold of him, it caused an unusual concern to stir within her. Could she get him through this? She was willing to do anything for her bro, but could she really help him? How could she manage to help Lincoln through a fear she herself has for her father. Luna managed to put on a brave face for her brother, after all, if they both were lost in fear they wouldn't be able to make it.

She was resolved that staying with Sam was the best option. She always helped Luna think clearly, the memories of their relationship was the match that ignited the passion to channel her inner emotions to write her songs, they also offered a safe place in her darkest times when she questioned if life could ever get better. Logically it also made sense for their situation until she was an adult and be more proactive in saving her sisters.

Sam's house was on the edge of both Luna and Lincoln's school districts. They'd be able to go about life as normal. Maybe she'd have another chance to apologize and set things right with Sam, it was worse than anything Lynn Sr could do with his fists or that damn belt when she had to break up. It was the smart decision, but her heart hadn't quite forgave Luna for it. Before Luna was quite resigned to this sad fact that made the black hole that was her father and the shit at home that sucked up any trace of love or happiness.

Lincoln's voice snaps Luna out of her thoughts, "H-How m-much f-further? I'm freezing!" she breathes in deeply and speaks. "Just a little further, Linc. We're on the right street. It's the house over there!" Luna points her finger to the large house at the end of the culdesac.

Lincoln immediately brightened up; the journey was nearly over and he could really use a couple minutes inside a heated building. Lincoln looked to Luna, "Wanna race? It'll warm us up—never—"

Luna smirks back to him, "Sounds good Linc, don't be chicken and back out 'cause you know you won't win!" she exclaims in a playful tone. It was good to see some of Lincoln's confidence come back, it was like before everything went bad. It was certainly better than fear, and it could only get better from here right?

"I'll count down, bro! 3...2...1!"

The two began to run down the sidewalk without a care in the world who might see them. Lincoln was slightly ahead due to his lighter body and the fact Luna was holding out somewhat. Any bit of confidence was good right?

They ended in the driveway with both siblings chuckling and gasping for air. Lincoln won and the boy was taking his moment of, "fame." and Luna went along. "Aw man, you got me Linc. Didn't think you had it in ya."

He smiles and takes a large breath of air, "Yeah, whoa that was good for stretching my legs. Haven't done any like that—" his sister interrupts him. "We should knock on the door. Don't want anyone mistakin' us for wanting trouble."

Lincoln nods and follows Luna up the small stone steps up to the door, Luna lightly knocks three times. They stand patiently for someone to answer. The sounds of speaking are audible from the front as someone comes to the door.

The door opens and a blonde woman a few inches taller than Luna was standing in front of them. "Luna! It's been awhile since you've come over. Oh you're shivering!" She looked to Lincoln, "You must be Lincoln, your sister told me about you. Why are you kids out in this terrible cold with out any winter clothing, come on in, I insist!" Sam's mom holds the door open for the two to come inside the warm house, a offer in which the two siblings take her up on almost instantly.

The inside of the house was neatly kept. Neither Luna or Lincoln could tell if a spec of dust had been in this house within the past decade. A small bench was right next to the door against the left side of the hall way the rest of the furniture was what most people would expect, a couch, a TV, a table, all were in the living room which is off the right of the door.

"Luna, Lincoln, are you two hungry? We just sat down to eat but we could get you two a plate if you want."

Luna nods, "Thanks Mrs. S. Linc and me are starvin'!" brother and sister sit down at the bench and take their shoes off. They slide the shoes underneath the bench with the other pairs that are there which consists of a pair of working shoes, snow boots for everyone, and a bunch of shoes that cover the extremes of the color spectrum from black to neon. Luna knew that those belonged to Sam, but one pair was sticking out like a sore thumb.

The shoes in question looked the part of Sam's style but they were much too big, and Luna knew that Sam had no older brother or guy cousins. " _Quit worrying, it's fine. I have more important things than this._ " She glances to her brother, the real reason she was here. Old relationships were trivial when compared to Lincoln's survival and well being.

Luna leaned over to Lincoln and whispered. "Follow me, dude, Sam's folks can be uptight but once ya get to know 'em they can be cool. Just use your manors."

They walk down the hall into a second living space with a sliding door that lead into a a modest backyard and a large dining room and kitchen that were separated by the counter with a open walk way. Sam's father and Sam sat at the table with a full plate in front of an unoccupied chair. Luna gulped, this was nothing right? " _Who am I trying to trick? This looks bad, it may not be what it seems, maybe it's just a friend staying over. Don't overreact!_ "

"Luna?" Sam blurts out, and at this moment Luna knew she was in for the most awkward moment of her life when she tried to explain why they have had no contact outside of a few lose conversations at school that were mostly out of necessity.

She pictures it out in her head. " _Hey sorry I broke your heart and ruined our friendship 'cause Pop's is a arsehole who beats us all and just tried to murder my brother. Mind if we stay on your couch till I turn 18?"_

Luna meekly squeaks out, "Hey, Sam." Lincoln who had been silent up to this point cleared his throat and spoke. "Hello."

The two teenagers were transfixed on each other and Sam offered no reply to Lincoln, but Sam's father did. "Ah, Luna! It's been awhile since you came over. This is Lincoln with you I presume?" He stood up extended his hand to Lincoln, but the boy merely closed his eyes and flinched before realizing he wasn't about to be hit. "I-I'm sorry."

He awkwardly shook hands with Sam's father, who after turned his attention to Luna. "This is informal, but I guess it's cultured in it's own way..." he out his fist out, which once more had Lincoln anxious. Luna removed her gaze from Sam and fist bumped her ex-girlfriend's father.

"Luna, Lincoln. Your plates are on the counter, you can come get them and pick a seat."

The two did as asked and the food looked absolutely tantalizing. The food their father served was even worse than when he actually gave a damn. It was a common occurrence for someone to get sick after eating undercooked meat due to a lack of patience with waiting for it thoroughly be cooked. Tin foil being stuck to things in the oven was also common but everyone generally ate around it as much as possible.

The meal was a simple lasagna, nothing astoundingly special, but to Luna and Lincoln this was a meal straight from a five star restaurant. They took the plates to the table and quickly determined where they wanted to sit. Luna wanted to take the seat right next to Sam, but the seat next to her had the plate by it. So she went to the side of the table closer to the counter and sat down in the third seat which was right next to Sam's father. Lincoln mindlessly followed her and sat down next to her in fourth seat. Luna knew that this would be difficult for Lincoln, after all after months of hell, to be in a place where people actually cared was suspect. Luna knew Sam and her parents enough that they didn't panic her, but for Lincoln this was a whole new situation, and he was _not_ handling it well.

A door in the left side of the hallway that connected the dining room and the kitchen opened up just as Sam's mom sat down in the first chair. Luna focused on her food, there was no reason to make the situation awkward and try to see who was coming to sit down. She mindlessly cut the pasta and took a bite, " _What if Sam replaced me? You left her! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"_ while internally berating herself Luna failed to notice a boy sit down right next to Sam.

"Looks good, Mrs. S!"

Luna darts her focus to a boy with dark black hair. He fit the bill of a stereotypical emo-kid, Luna wasn't much to judge but this guy definitely seemed like he had issues. _"I'm thinking about his issues when I'm the one alone with my little bro far away from home waiting to beg my ex to let us bunk out on the couch._ "

Sam speaks up and breaks her silence, "So Luna, what brings you out here? Didn't think you'd be able to come over for a long time." Luna thinks of something to say in reply, well knowing Sam was probably unhappy to intrude on her family life like this unannounced. "Uh, things got kinda heated at home...Pops and everyone else is having a hard time handling things, so I thought I'd give 'em a break from us two...I'm sorry we haven't spoke in awhile, Sam...I'll have to talk to you in private after dinner."

She heard Lincoln's shaking hands as he tried to cut his food. Luna's heart broke in anguish, the "groundings" at home which was basically isolation for days when the only human contact would be Lynn Sr taking him food and water before whipping him with his belt, and now her little bro couldn't even function at a dinner table without shaking like a leaf in a tornado. This also made Luna feel a little guilty because some of the groundings came from Lincoln taking the blame for something she did.

"Luna Loud? That name sounds familiar...weren't you and your family exposed online? Wait you were the one who wore polka-dot underwear?" Luna immediately glared at him, so he was one of these bastards? How could Sam replace her with a asshole like this guy? She wanted nothing more than to yell at him, but if she was going to convince Sam's parents to let her and Lincoln stay here she had to be as kind as possible. Luna opened her mouth to speak—

"Shut it."

Everyone looked to the twelve year old who was now shaking in anger at the humiliation of his sister. Luna put her hand on his shoulder, "Linc, it's okay...you don't have to do this, I can handle it." the boy turned to Lincoln. "You little—"

"Jimmy! He's a kid, and he's right, that was a low blow on your part." Sam says berating the boy both siblings now know as Jimmy. Sam looks to Luna apologetically. "I'm sorry, Jimmy can be such a as—butt about things sometimes."

Luna has a small smile. "It's okay, Sam, sometimes ya gotta learn how to take things in stride and learn to laugh at yourself sometimes." It wasn't a complete lie, it did bother Luna when someone brought that up but she was able to avoid getting to broken up over it, this guy though...he invoked a strange anger, especially since it was obvious at this point that this was Sam's replacement for her.

Luna looks to Lincoln and whispers. "Are you okay, bro? I know it's hard, but we gotta be on our best if we want this to go smooth...believe me there is worse than dealing with someone like him and his petty insults that could be our other options, just stick with the plan, alright?" Lincoln nods and begins to eat once more as the room falls into a deathly silence

"So, Lincoln, how's everything been lately, do anything interesting at school?"

"It's fine! Everything is fine." Lincoln nervously drones out to Sam's father. The man raises an eyebrow at Lincoln's tone of voice, the boy is obviously worried about something. "Everything alright? You seem a little unsettled."

Lincoln at this moment wanted more than anything to tell even a stranger about the living hell that he and his family, his true family have endured over the past few months and beg him to find someone who can help, instead he puts on a fake smile. "Everything is fine, just a little...shy."

Sam's father shrugs, "Our daughter was quite like that at your age as well, she never did fit in well with the kids from the private school we sent her too, wasn't until we finally gave her a chance in a public school, I guess it gave her a chance to break out of her shell." Lincoln sighs in relief; at least the most awkward conversation in his life was over, but somehow nowadays the next one felt just as awkward. This whole environment is just five strangers and his sister, it all felt like too much.

School had been easy, he could tune people out or just answer in one word sentences that usually would be in passing and it was over. School was mostly impersonal, and when it wasn't he made it impersonal to keep anyone he mildly cared for away from **him**.

A conversation with this many strangers after days of exile into his room was like a rookie actor acting live on Broadway for the first time. He wanted nothing more for this to end but the small bit of reason in his mind that wasn't panicking was clear enough that he couldn't just give up and say he tried. It means too much to him that at least he and Luna would be safe...for now.

Jimmy finished his food first...even though he started last. He stood up from the table, "Sorry Mrs. S, I gotta go check my phone and make a call. I'll be out back if anyone needs me." he pulls his phone out of his pocket and walks out back and sits down on a chair underneath the awning.

Sam's father mumbles something that sounds like, "Uncivilized pig..." that Sam seemingly doesn't hear, but Luna did. As much as she didn't like Jimmy Mr. S has no right to talk about him like that behind his back, at least be honest and say it to his face if you want to insult someone. Sam had always told Luna that even the slightest bit of high society arrogance was way too much. She felt like a bum for not being true to her last name and tell Sam's dad off loudly and proudly for what he's doing wrong, but Luna knew she'd have to compromise and tolerate this type of behavior so long as it didn't get too bad.

Mrs. S wasn't bad. That had to count for something right? Being able to tolerate one of your potential-future guardians was a start, right? Then that brings Luna to the matter of actually asking for their help, which was something that she wasn't looking forward to. It was a necessary, uncomfortable, degrading, potentially risky, and incredibly unpredictable.

Luna was just desperate enough to do it. Ninety-five percent of other situations the park bench would look more appealing, but this wasn't a game that there was a warm bed, loving family, and secure living space that they wouldn't freeze to death from the elements. The conversation she would have before with Sam was one that she was looking forward to even less. There was no lying, no way out, nothing could stop the truth from staying under the surface any longer if Luna wants to do this right, and undoubtedly she does. " _Just breathe, it shouldn't be too bad. Sam will understand, right? Worst case scenario is that...I don't want to think about that choice_."

Lincoln finished next, and then eventually Luna finished her food, and eventually everyone finished. Sam looked to Luna, "Meet me in my room." Luna nods and looks to Lincoln. "Hang out and see if there is anything you can do while we talk, alright Linc?"

"Yeah, that can work."

"Awesome, I won't be long. Just stay calm, 'kay."

Everyone got up from the table and put the dirty dishes in the sink. Mrs. S looks to Lincoln. "I'm gonna take care of the dishes, Clark can turn on the TV for you, right honey?"

TV. It had been a lifetime since the last time Lincoln was allowed to use the mind numbing reprieve from his own thoughts. He wasn't even sure what was on nowadays, he'd heard a little chatter at school but not enough to mean much.

Mr. S guided him back into the living room and turned on the TV and gave Lincoln the remote. "Watch anything you wish, I will be up stairs reading in my study if you happen to need me."

Lincoln nods and begins flip through the most channels he'd ever seen. This is definitely a needed break from school assignments, memories, and Lincoln's memories.

He spots a show, " _Desert Operation 2.0: Extreme._ " for that moment Lincoln felt reminiscent to the child he'd been, but he realized no more time for thoughts, he had some kind numbing to do and it felt good.

* * *

"So you show up months after dumping me and not talking to me, you don't even look at me anymore! Was I that much of a shame to you that you cut all ties with me?"

"Sam—"

Sam throws her arms in exasperation. "You helped me find this new lost part of me that made me feel special, like I wasn't just some failure born into a decently wealthy family. Why? What did I do that made you hate me so?"

"I-I don't hate you, I never could hate you, Sam. There are things, things in my family that I want to keep there. I love you and that's why I had to break things off. My father's a bat straight out of 'ell and he's killed all the good things any of his daughter held close. Our Mother isn't doing any better since she's already replaced him, and she wants no part of any of us. Can't you see? Now I'm alone with my brother and I'm not even an adult yet. He's relying on me for survival and coming here was the best thing I could think of."

Tears spilt down Luna's cheeks and she breathes in. "H-He tried to k-kill Lincoln the other night, all because he said Lincoln was fucking bad luck. He told Lincoln exactly what was going on as it happened. I barely got him off of Lincoln, and he told us that if he ever saw either of us again he would kill us."

Sam was forced into a stunned silence, "I-I didn't know...I have to call the police, someone has to know!" Luna shakes her head. "No, you can't, he'll kill one of my sisters, Sam! The man is deranged, and I've seen it in his eyes as he's beat me. If he even hears a cop car there is no questioning what he'll do. He won't even let me write anymore he's so fuckin' paranoid he wouldn't even let me write songs anymore because he thinks I'm calling for help."

Luna sits down on Sam's bed and let's the tears fall. "L-Lincoln, I-I think he might have some type of anxiety disorder...god it hurts, Sam, I can't stand watching what the sick bastard has done to my baby brother. Lincoln means the world to me and he can't even deal with a conversation now because he's been locked away in his room for days alone and beat daily."

Sam sits down and rubs Luna's back as she lets the pent up emotions out. "Please, Luna! Tell me what you need. I'll help you with anything, I promise."

Luna turns and looks Sam in the eyes. "Never tell anyone what I've told you, ever. It stays right here forever, and two you have to help me convince your parents to let me and Lincoln stay here—"

"They won't let you. I-I'm sorry L-Luna I-I don't think I can help you with that. My parents, they seem nice, but everything underneath, it's nasty. They're smug, they're overbearing, they're cruel. I can't believe how manipulative they are, my mother doesn't like it but with a kid like Lincoln who's been through so much. I don't know his mind can take the insults. I-I mean he almost broke into a fight with Jimmy because of an insult, imagine that but everyday and worse than that. Plus, I know they aren't comfortable with people that go against their standards, and you and Lincoln...You aren't blood to them and that makes them much less willing to tolerate you."

Luna's mind is running at a thousand miles per hour. Luna saw the snark in Mr. S, but never did she think there was something as vile as what Sam describes. " _Looks like everyone I love chose the short stick in the parent-department."_

Luna stands up, "I don't know what I'm gonna do...this just keeps getting worse every day." she looks to Sam who has her wallet out. "Here just take everything in there and get somewhere safe, a hotel room here," she writes down an address. "Should do, I'm good friends with management and they can get you a discount and make things cheaper."

"Sam, I don't wanna—"

"Take the money, my family has too much of it already god damn it, I can make it back easy and you need this more than me."

She looks at wallet and card and contemplates her course of action. "I-I promised Linc I'd do anything for him, didn't I? I guess I'll take it, thank you Sam..." Luna turns to the door and begins to walk towards it before turning. "One more thing before we go," she looks to Sam and kisses her on the lips as the two walk down memory lane for that moment of the first time it happened when they went on their first date to a Mick Swagger concert just before the divorce, they seperate. "Break up with Jimmy, the guys an asshole."

Still dazed by this confrontation Sam replies. "Okay, I-I'll do that and then I can come see you guys in a few days."

"Rockin, it's a date."

* * *

 **Hello guys. Chapter dos is in the books, and yeah Lincoln is a bit of a twitchy mess right now but that's a result of his sacrificial nature like in the show and the extra beatings he received. Hopefully you also enjoyed the bit of romance at the end as Sam and Luna reunited and managed to. "Kiss and make up."**

 **The Family and Jimmy are characters made by me and how I think Sam's home life is like with semi-rich parents.**

 **The street part will happen soon but this where I thought the story would come on this rocky rollercoaster that fate (I) have decided to give these characters. So high and low points all around.**

Key

 _Italics: Inner monologue/ Title of Chapter_

 **Bold: Intense emotion/Story Title.**

Regular: Spoken/quotations


	3. Chapter 3: The Broken

**On Our Own Here We Go**

 _The Broken._

 _(The morning after Chapter One)_

All was not well back in the Loud residence. None of the sisters could piece together that awful screaming that shook them from slumber. Even the youngest among them knew something terrible happened, if the yelling wasn't enough to running was enough to shake the house.

A feeling of shame was abundant at the table while Lori served her younger siblings, they all felt like cowards for not doing something to help out Lincoln and Luna. For all any of them knew they could be dead by now, and when they asked Lynn Sr he told them, "Don't worry about them, they aren't coming back. Don't any of you go looking for them either, they are dead to this family!" and nobody dared to press him any further since he was pissed and laid up in his room with a bad hangover.

"Lori...y-you don't think he hurt them, right?" Luan whispers to Lori as she pours milk into a bowl. "I could hear someone fall and..." Lori sighs, "I think they're fine. I heard running, and **he** literally couldn't run two feet judging by that hangover."

"Ew! Lori! Stinky cheese and cereal totes don't work together."

Lori slaps her hand to her forehead. "Of course the milk is literally disgusting! Everything in this house is breaking or ruined!"

"Shut the fuck up in there!"

Lori clenches her teeth, barley resisting the temptation to poke the hungover bear. "We're sorry." Lori turns to her sisters, "Pour that stuff out...I guess plain cereal will have to do." everyone sighs and does as asked. Luan relents, "N-No, I'll just go look in Lincoln's room...maybe he left a clue behind. I just can't sit here while my brother and sister are missing!" Lori frowns, they all were worried but eating was a necessary and skipping a meal was definitely not good since they hardly had enough to feed everyone. Skipping even one of the scarce meals nearly ensures that the person who doesn't eat will definitely not get enough nutrients to be healthy and avoid malnutrition.

"Luan, if you eat everyone will go help you look. Lincoln and Luna are smart enough to find somewhere safe, none of us ate well last night and if that's anything to judge by we won't eat much later on."

Luan sighs, "Fine." she grabs a new bowl from the cabinet and gets in the back of the line of siblings who were waiting for a new serving of cereal. Lori took care of getting Lily her baby food before sitting down at the table with the rest of her sisters. They ate in silence for a few minutes, nobody had anything to say because truthfully what was there to be said? The complete destruction of the families social ties due to Lynn Sr's intense paranoia over one of them snitching.

It wasn't like they had anything they could say when the bane of the families existence was strung out on the family couch in the other room. Lynn was the first one to speak up, "I'm going to my room. I-I need some alone time." she got up from the chair before Lori stopped her. "Come on Lynn, you of all people should know that you need to eat to keep your strength up."

"I can skip a meal. Just don't worry about me, Okay?" Lori frowns, "It's my job to worry about you, I'm your older sister and I know that you need food.

" Lynn stays calm but speaks with an ice cold tone. "If you know what's best then why didn't you do anything to stop what happened last night? Or why didn't you step in when **he** picked up a bottle of booze for the first time? You're just as clueless about what to do as Lily, at least she knows when to quit bothering me."

Everyone's jaw drops as they wait for Lori to explode and yell at Lynn, but it's a surprise when Lori begins to cry. "Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I think back hundreds of times and think that things could have been different? Maybe if I did stop Dad from picking up booze things could have gone different? I'm doing my best here to try and make it up to everyone by doing my best to hold things together!"

Lynn doesn't respond and stalks back up stairs to her room. Leni gets up to console the now crying Lori, "It's okay, Lori. Don't cry..." Lori looks to Leni, "No it's not, I'm failing to keep everything together, I always thought maybe I could make things normal again. Now Luna and Lincoln are god knows where and—"

"No Lori, you are not to blame!"

"But—"

"I may not be like the smartest, but I know this is not your fault, Lori. You've been the sister that we've all needed, and that's nothing to be ashamed of."

The other siblings in the room were seriously beginning to question if they were in some alternative universe; Lori crying? LENI giving QUALITY emotional advice? Lisa even muttered something about checking if she was exposed to the same device she used to grant Lincoln's wish of visiting a world in which he had brothers instead of sisters.

Lisa hops down onto the ground. "I would like to go to my la—room and catch a few Z's as the typical person would say. I wish you well on searching for evidence to the location of our wayward siblings, good bye."

Lisa leaves like Lynn and heads back upstairs to her room. Leaving before anyone can begin to formulate a response to her question, but they didn't hassle her because the last thing they wanted to do was to get **him** up and in their business. The only good thing about when their father getting this drunk was the major hangover that usually lead to a peaceful but quiet day so long as nobody did anything overly loud. The penalty for doing so would be a grounding for a week which would be pain free until the hangover wore off then whoever made said noise would be given the belt.

Eventually everyone else finished their food and went up stairs to Lincoln's room. The room was rather empty other than the bed and it's soul cover which was near the bottom of the small bed. Lincoln's pillow was on the floor next to the bed, it looked just like someone had just gotten out of bed rather hastily and never looked back.

Lori knew better, "This definitely wasn't what happened. I heard enough to know that this is a set up, I'm totally surprised **he** was able to do that with how drunk he was," she looks to Lana who had silently been following her lead. "Can you please check under the bed? Maybe they left something there that we could use...who knows maybe one of your animals escaped under there."

At the mention at her animals Lana brightened up. "I'll get under there and check. Doesn't sound like it though." Lana got close to the ground and slips beneath the small bed, it was a tight fit but she eventually squeezes completely in. Lana immediately realized she was laying on a rectangular shape and then she put a name to it. "Guys I think I'm laying on top of a note pad."

Lana struggles momentarily to get out from underneath, "Can you guys lift it a little? I'm stuck!" everyone but Lori came over and carefully lift the bed up high enough that Lana can slip out and grab the note pad.

"Can you bring it here, Lana?" Lori exclaims as she passes Lily to Luan. The tomboy walks over with the notepad in hand. Lori immediately studies the contents of the front page and notices that they are song lyrics for a song called, " _The Castle Crumbles."_ in an album called, " _Tales From The Broken._ " all of which was in Luna's hand writing.

"This is one of Luna's songs. A brand new one."

Luan gasps, "So that's what she's been doing at night!" Lori raises an eyebrow. "You've known she's been writing this?"

"Not really...but I've heard her moving around at night sometimes so this must be what's she's been doing. **He** wouldn't let her write any other time than when he's out, doing you know what." Lori nods, she was glad her sister still had her creative flare, which for most of the other Louds at the moment was lacking.

Luna had been drifting away from everyone in the family that wasn't Lincoln, they had begun to wonder if there was something more than it seems and if Lori had to guess Luna was merely using extra time to think in private when she went to her room before anyone else for the night.

They all knew well enough that Luna made an effort to spend as much time as possible with Lincoln when he wasn't grounded for something someone else usually did. Lori thought that maybe Luna felt indebted to Lincoln for suffering for them. This notepad and the fact the two made such a hasty escape put them both in this room last night. Lori had a feeling nothing important would be in here and she was somewhat right, the main reason they were doing this was to help Luan think that they were just gonna forget Luna and Lincoln and move on.

"Alright guys, there's nothing in here that we can use. I don't want to make a mess and go through his drawers. They left in a hurry and Luna wouldn't just leave her songs here if she had a choice or a plan to do anything. I'll call the music store Luna works at on Monday to see if she shows up for work. Keep your eyes peeled for Lincoln at school and if the school doesn't call it means he showed up." ( **AN: They ran away on a Friday night, this is Saturday morning and they went to Sam's house after missing Monday which gave no leads.)**

All the siblings in the room agree. Lori nods, "I'll go tell Lynn and Lisa and under no conditions does ANY of you speak a word of this to **him** ," she gazes upon her siblings and smiles. "Go outside and have fun, but don't make too much noise alright? This only happens once in a blue moon."

"Thanks, Lori." All of them say in a whisper yell as everyone but Luan engages in a group hug. They all break apart and go downstairs. Lori prepares to leave the room but turns back just as she leaves, "I'll find out what happened here."

Lori walks out of the room into the hall leaving the empty room of her brother in silence once more.

Little did she know that a hundred feet below here a mad scientist was also on the case of solving the families issues in a more of a permanent solution fashion. "Lisa you idiot! How could you ever be as foolish in believing a paradox such as time travel could be possible," she sits down in a huge spinning chair. "You should have recognized the symptoms of alcoholism and depression early, and treated it, but now a time machine? My intellect has failed me once more in efforts to preserve of my family unit."

" _I could compensate and bring our siblings home...but is that really the best thing I can do for them? If I know anything about Lincoln and Luna Loud it is that Lori was not wrong in the assumption that they were crafty enough to survive. Lincoln definitely is capable of planning out something as trivial as finding shelter, but do I really want to allow things to play out in the cruel hands of chance? It only takes one lucky shot in an area so close to the criminal cesspool that is Detroit...but it only takes one extra hard hit from a drunk man to kill."_

Lisa rubs her temples, " _If only I was more like Lincoln then maybe everything would be fine. He had been the adhesive that allowed the family to function for so long. He is in touch with his emotions which is completely the opposite of me, I've been so sick as to make the people around me into mere test dummies for so long. It's pathetic that it took becoming a punching bag to finally realize what I was doing had been nothing but cruel experimentation. If I have to work my self into the grave to build something to allow me a chance to reverse my mother's infidelity and everything that happened after I will."_

The sound of her AI broke Lisa out of her train of thought. "Lori Loud is currently on a trajectory towards your room. Immediate action required to avoid discovery of absence, should I activate Protocol 17?" The AI smoothly asks. "Yes, inflate the blow up dummy and set the microphone to slightly muffled."

A microphone is brought to Lisa by a robotic butler. The computer monitor in front of Lisa played the footage from the micro-camera she had placed on the wall in her room. It displayed the bunk bed and the other pieces of furniture and pretty much everything in the room. The blow up dummy is also clearly visible from underneath the covers with only Lisa's hair being visible.

The door to the room swings open revealing Lori who quietly speaks. "Lisa? Lisa are you awake?"

Lisa fakes a groan. "I am indeed conscious. I do believe I have contracted a case of food poisoning. I will be fine so long as I maintain elevated levels of hydration."

Lori looks on concerned. "Are you sure you'll be okay? We didn't find anything in Lincoln's room, and I was hoping maybe you had something that can help us find them."

Lisa smoothly lies. "In case you haven't noticed, father has stripped me of all my equipment. It would be child's play to find them if I had my equipment, but alas that is not the case."

"Oh, okay. Just let me know if you need anything to drink, and don't lie to me."

"What?" Lisa almost fell out of her chair at this accusation, how would Lori see through her disguise so easily, unless—"

"Don't lie to me and tell me you aren't thirsty or you don't want anything to drink. It's my job to take care of this and you aren't gonna lie to me, okay?"

Internally the tornado of thoughts spinning within her mind dissipated, so she didn't have a clue. "Yes, I am aware that I have to take care of myself properly and I will be honest with you."

"Alright, I'm gonna talk to Lynn then I'll come back with something for you to drink."

The door to the room quietly shut behind Lori as she left what she thought was her ailing sister to lie down and rest off food poisoning.

* * *

Lynn tosses a small orange ball up in the air before catching it as it came back down. " _What's wrong with me? I know Lori's been doing everything she can to help out, but I yelled at her for doing the same thing we all did._ "

Lynn knew she was more angry at herself for hiding in her room when Lincoln and Luna were chased out of the house. Lincoln would never leave his family unless he had to, he had proven time and time again that he'd go through physical pain for any one of them. Obviously something bad happened last night, Lynn didn't know what that could have been but it is easy enough to assume the general situation.

The door opened to her room, but Lynn didn't even move her focus from the ball.

"Lynn—"

"I'm sorry."

Lori did not expect that one bit, she expected Lynn to shun her completely or even worse that she'd continue the argument they had during breakfast.

"I...I was wrong, Lori. I've never been good at admitting my mistakes, but in this case I was obviously out of line. I can't blame you for something that everyone didn't do," she finally looks to Lori and the older sister saw the tears in her eyes. "I came at you hoping you'd yell at me, that it'd be like what things used to be for a moment. Even if it meant that we'd be screaming our heads off...I know everything I did was wrong and I hope you can forgive me."

"It's okay, Lynn. This has been hard on all of us, even I lose control of my emotions like you saw earlier. Maybe it'd be better if you had a conversation with us instead of yelling at us, but I forgive you Lynn. I don't have room in my head to hold a grudge over a stupid argument, none of us do. Just try not to do it again, okay?"

Lynn nods to Lori. The older sibling holds the door open, "Go have fun out side, everyone but Lisa is out there already. I'm gonna be out in a minute after I get Lisa a drink and make sure she's actually okay."

Lynn gets out of bed and walks out the door. "Thank you, Lori."

"No problem, twerp. Now go do something sporty or whatever outside. Just don't do anything too too loud. I don't think I need to explain why."

Lynn looks back to Lori. "Okay, I will, but you better not tell anyone I cried, got it?"

"Your secret is safe with me."

* * *

 **This will go in as a Chapter three but in reality this is more of a Chapter 1.5 since it's relatively short in the word count. I just wanted to paint the picture of the home life immediately after the events of Chapter One and inclusion of events before. Some of those events might (hopefully) be fleshed out more in a prequel.**

 **Yes, the family was broken apart by infidelity. Lincoln and the younger siblings (Excluding Lisa, because she's waaaaay smarter.) think of it as abandonment and haven't exactly been told the true story because after all how do think you explain it to kids the reason their parents are splitting up?**

 **I hinted at this in Chapter One in an insult during Lynn Sr's attack it sort of hinted to this if you'd read it literally. The custody and alimony situation also points to that since I wrote it that only Lynn Sr was receiving money.**

 **There was also a tongue and cheek Easter Egg in a major influence and potential major plot point in this chapter. If you have a theory than leave a review telling me what you think. Speculation is the best part of any ongoing story.**

 **The time machine endeavors will be a fruitless one. Just saying that now because this is a coming to age story, not a grow up and fix it fic. Sometimes you have to deal with the life given, and the whole quest Lisa is having with it is mostly an effect of the abuse on her. She may seem normal but she is equally as hurt as anyone else.**

 **The hint for the Easter Egg is that the plot point is also a major one in a song I like. The lyrics that act as this stories image will give you a place to look if you find the band. Maybe listen to a couple of songs if you are into the punk genre.**

 **Anyways I'll be back with an actual continuation of the story soon.**

 **Peace.**

Key

 _Italics: Inner Monologue/ Title of the Chapter_

 **Bold** : **Intense Emotion/ Story title**

Regular: Spoken word/ Quotations


	4. Quick Minor AN, Opinion Wanted

**AN**

Hello everyone, I apologize for the error in the AN originally, I wrote it just before I went to sleep and missed my mistake.

Don't think, "Oh crap it's a dead story now." the purpose of this is to gauge the interest in two paths this story can go down. They center around Sam, Luna's girlfriend who if you want my representation of the character go back and read Chapter Two.

One option is that she factors into this as a main character going forward, or she plays a minor role in the story until the end. Though both sides of the spectrum will be happy with the spectrum if she isn't a main character (For info on the sequel and prequel check my profile as the story progresses.) because she will be heavily featured in both prequel and sequel.

I have a grand plan for all three stories already but of course I still gotta type it all out then judge it. (The support for the story is overwhelming anyways, nearly at 3,000 views.) but I don't think I'll heavily deviate from the path too much, but both ways make the story equally as interesting with exclusive twists.

The feedback and reviews are a pleasure to read so I can read the outsiders perspective on my narrative. That's the best part of it is to be able to read what other writers on this site think. Even if I never get my story as popular as _Requiem of_ _a_ _Loud_ or _What's_ a _Person worth_ **(Check out those stories and their writers, they do not disappoint in putting high quality stuff out.)** The criticisms give me a clear view into how I can improve.

All criticisms are appreciated, even negative, after all what type of creator cannot admit his own faults and seek to improve? None, that is the answer, because quite true creator would take the criticisms in stride, so if ya feel like being an honest person don't think you're gonna get the, "Fuck you and your opinion." shit out of me. I know the value of having holes being pointed out so I can make proper changes and make one less mistake.

The second part of this AN includes my update schedule. I want to become consistent so people know when to look for this getting a new chapter.

If I update 2-3 times a week I can average 4k in words of events in a chapter, but if I do it daily the number probably sums up to 2.5k.

Keep up the support and I'll do the best I can to make as satisfying story as possible, peace out and rock on.


	5. Chapter 4: The Monster Inside Of My Head

**On Our Own Here We Go**

 _The Monster Inside Of My Head_

 _Part 1_

"Lincoln, wake up bro!" The twelve year old rolls over, "I don't wanna get up, Luna." The sixteen year old puts her hands on her hips. "We have to get going Linc, school is important. It's the law, dude." The boy sighs and sits up, he rubs his eyes and slips out of the bed. It felt good to be in a real bed, something that actually felt like a bed meant for comfort.

But even then there was guilt rising in the pit of Lincoln's stomach as he remembers the fact that his sisters were left behind. It made him feel so bad to be enjoying luxury compared to what was back at the house, and even worse when he knew that he is failing to be a good brother and protect everyone. " _What kind of brother am I? Everyone probably thinks I left because I hate them._ "

Lincoln opens the closet to reveal seven different outfits for both siblings. They had took a cab and using some of the money Luna got from Sam they bought the necessities to get through each day of the week. After that they took a second cab to a hotel Luna said Sam recommended to her. Apparently it was a good deal since it made walking to her work and school possible until they found a permanent place to go, also she said it'd be more cost-effective.

Lincoln picked out an outfit and took it into the bathroom, he hangs his new outfit on shower hooks before slipping out of his old clothing. He heats the water up to the warmest setting possible to quickly heat the water up. The water completely wakes Lincoln from his drowsy state, it feels great to have warm water massage his skin.

Lincoln began to think about all the things he has to do today. This new situation felt better than living at home, but going back to school after the pure insanity that has taken him on this strange adventure.

School would be an awkward endeavor, but wasn't that every thing nowadays? Being around his other sisters will be strange to say the least. " _Oh hey guys, yeah, sorry can't come home. What? It's getting worse? Well too bad_."

Lincoln would never use those exact words in a conversation but that'd be basically what he would have to say. Anything else would undoubtedly only end in pain if he didn't lie and say he and Luna ran away on their own terms.

Lincoln knew Luna wouldn't have it any easier, after all she would have to deal with Lori, Leni, and Luan. At least for Lincoln the only older sibling he had at his school was Lynn and he assumes she'll be ashamed of him for quitting. That'd be for the best, wouldn't it? They'd never have to deal with their father's disdain for his luck again.

The thing that hurt the most about the whole ordeal on Friday is that Lincoln doesn't think his father was completely wrong. Bad luck seems to follow Lincoln wherever he goes, and it feels like even when nothing bad is happening something **really** bad is waiting to happen. Lincoln wasn't to firm in his belief of luck but there is a point when things stop seeming random.

It's like no matter how pure his motives are or how far he plans ahead it always ends with him in pain. Life kept on throwing a new disaster his way whenever he recovers from the previous. The dark thoughts that occasionally pass through Lincoln's mind make him feel as though it's his luck that tore his family apart. It didn't make sense, and he knew that but the lingering of doubt in his mind still made it hard to be comfortable with what he had now.

Maybe it was just his luck that his family, the thing he values the most in this life would suffer in his stead while he has the comfort of waking up without the fear of being brutally punished for any minor offense. Maybe that's the ultimate sign of his bad luck.

It didn't help that he still had to deal with Chandler and his friends, he didn't like to think of them or their special brand of torture much, the memories of getting mocked relentlessly for the state of his family and the constant torturous pranks that have been played on him.

Lincoln couldn't believe that there was one point where he'd do anything to get closer to Chandler, now he dreads the sound of the mocking laughter that torments him.

He'd never tell Luna about this. It was one more thing for a teenager with way too much to worry about, he could handle his own problem.

The whole situation has given him a new appreciation for Luna, though. Even though it hasn't been too long since they left home he couldn't imagine how it feels like to be responsible for her younger brother with all the obstacles that have allowed them to manage this difficult situation.

Even though they weren't able to stay at Sam's house like they originally wanted it still ended up rather positive since they had money, new clothing, and a safe place. This isn't even counting the fact that she saved his life. It made him feel bad that he never even thanked her for that, his thoughts have just been so preoccupied with all this change, and it hurt to think back to it. Whenever he did for too long it would cause him to instantly start panicking.

Lincoln steps out of the shower and dries himself off before slipping into his new clothes. The shirt was a rather plain white sweat shirt to go along with navy blue sweatpants. It felt a little odd to wear the sweatpants since typically he wore jeans, but they were simply not a smart buy and since it was cold out it only made sense.

He went to the sink and picked up the tube of toothpaste and squirting it onto his blue toothbrush.

Lincoln began to wonder if he'd be able to talk to Ronnie Anne again, he felt terrible for pushing her away. " _Sam forgave Luna, why can't Ronnie Anne forgive me?_ " Part of him wants to believe this as true but he knows Ronnie Anne definitely isn't the type of person to control her emotions enough to avoid making everything worse if she ever learned the truth.

The silence between them carried the message of, " _I'll stay out of your business so long as you don't bother me again unless you want to get punched._ " and it wasn't fair to lead her on while lying every step of the way. It was selfish to want to continue a romantic relationship with such a major secret he felt that couldn't be disclosed if it meant Ronnie Anne or their family to act in a way that causes the already fragile home situation to become a nuclear bomb with an even more devastating fallout.

Life is bad enough as in back home with an abusive father, if someone was ever going to report it to the police the situation would become much worse if they were broken up and put through Foster Care. He'd done some digging when had free time at school and he read a treasure trove of stories about kids going to families straight out of hell.

His sisters had each other, that wasn't something to gamble on hoping each of the many Loud children found responsible homes. Lincoln was positive most of his older sisters were aware of how things could be and the younger ones follow their lead anyways.

Lincoln finishes brushing and puts the brush in the cup that was right next to the faucet with Luna's pink brush.

He walks out of the bathroom to see Luna sitting at the small desk by the TV writing on the complimentary sticky notes that had been on the small table next to both beds. Luna looks to him, "You ready to go? It's gonna be bit of a walk." she grabs a box on the desk and tosses it to him.

"You're gonna have to eat on the move, bro."

Lincoln pulls out a package of cherry poptarts and sets the box down. He tears the wrapper off and takes a bite. "Okay, let's go then."

The two walk out of the small room that was their temporary sanctuary and Luna locks the door behind them with a small key which she puts back in her pocket. They navigate the hallways until the brother and sister find the elevator. Luna presses the button and then they wait about half a minute before the elevator arrives. The siblings step in and then Lincoln presses the button for the first floor.

Luna takes a moment to look to Lincoln, "Whatcha thinkin' about, bro?" he seemingly snaps out of his daydream. "Oh, it's fine, just a little...anxious, everything is so different. I feel like everything is going a million miles an hour."

"You sure that's it? You look a little pale, bro. I do understand, though, heh at one point I always thought being free and out on the land would be fun. I guess I was a bit of some bonehead to think that, but I guess we can get through it. Remember what I told you? So long as we got each other and our family we'll be fine. You'll have a chance to see some of 'em today."

"Yeah, just gotta stay calm," he remembers something and looks back. "Luna...I never quite thanked you for everything you've done for me lately. I-I don't think anyone's ever gone as far as you have for me, it really means a lot to have you around helping me through the last couple days and however long life is like...this. I mean you saved my life at the expense of living at home, I really don't know how to thank you enough."

Luna frowns, "I chose to save you because I love you Lincoln. I would have always made the choice I did, your my little bro! You mean a lot to me, and I have no doubt you would do the same for me under the exact same circumstances. Don't ever think that you owe me a thing for saving you, I know it used to seem like everyone wanted something from you all the time," she sighs. "I know because it's true, we did. The last few months have made me realize how wrong we could treat you at times, and it made me see how much you are willing to do for nothin' in return for us, even takin' punishments for everyone else."

This made Lincoln's eyes water, he didn't expect anything so strong from Luna. He always looked to Luna as the easy going rocker in the family, not really the type to get overly emotional or anything. It is even more of a surprise that she apologized to him for small things that felt like they happened decades ago.

"T-Thank Y-You...I didn't think that was gonna happen."

Luna puts her hand on his shoulder, "If you have any issues Lincoln, I do care and you can tell me. I promise that I will help you to the best of my ability to help you, we're gonna have to rely on each other for awhile and I want you to know I have your back."

The elevator finally came to a complete stop and Lincoln and Luna step out. "So this is gonna be a pretty long walk dude. An hour both ways, but don't forget that I gotta go to work after school so your gonna come with me and give a hand. Does that sound good?"

Lincoln recalls Luna telling him this just before bed, "Yeah I can help, after all it's just selling records and stuff. How hard could it be?" she chuckles. "Love that enthusiasm, dude!"

They pass the front desk and walk out the front door, it wouldn't be too bad walking to school. Both of them were familiar enough with the area around their schools to know the way to get there. After all they were only two miles away.

They begin the long journey in silence before Lincoln speaks, "So how are you gonna deal with Lori and Luan asking you were we went?" she shrugs. "I dunno, probably tell them we had no other choice. It's the truth if there is no other way we can say it. Just be careful who hears, bro, could get a little hairy if someone hears something they shouldn't."

"Alright, will do."

Luna smiles at him, "So you gonna talk to your gal today, bro?" he blushes a little bit. "No, we don't really see each other since school started again. Besides, I can't really count on her not to march down to the house and cause trouble."

"Aw, you just gotta give it some time. You know a lil sweet talkin goes a long way to getting into your special little ladies heart," she gasps. "Oh! You can sample some music at work later then seranade her—"

He sighs, "No, I think it'd be better if I just leave her alone, she's probably mad enough at me already." Luna frowns. "Aw, dude. I just wanna see you happy. You should try and at least fix the friendship up, you're free to try and find happiness."

Lincoln looks to the ground, "A-Alright, it's just so hard to talk to people...I-I don't wanna mess up and get hit again." the older of the two thinks before carefully responding to her brother. "Is someone hurting you at school, Linc?"

"No—just forget about what I said alright? It's nothing important."

"You promised me, bro."

Lincoln rubs the back of his head, "It's just teasing, Luna, nothing too bad. Just a joke every now and then, nothing more!"

Luna knows Lincoln is telling a lie, but if she presses to hard it will be difficult to convince him to share anything with her. She'd let this one slide but if there is anything that seems out of ordinary there would be major issues with whoever is messing with her brother. It would be hard enough to coerce Lincoln to tell her anything, Luna clearly remembered being his age and the amount of secrets and lying she did. It wasn't necessary anything to be proud of but it's just that point in life.

"Alright, bro. Just tell me if you need anything like you promised me."

Lincoln forces a smile, "Yeah, I will, don't worry." it was a tiny white lie, wasn't it? It's not like anything would change for the better. He knew that unfortunately Luna's hands would be tied in anyways, it's not like she could tell since they didn't even go to the same schools and then the school would do as it always does when it comes to anything mildly serious: call the parents and make them solve the issues and give the bully a minor punishment.

It wasn't at all worth the risk. Chandler was worth dealing with if it meant he didn't have to go back to the house. Then Lincoln would be right back where he started, he would just have to endure anything thrown at him and hope the torment wasn't too bad.

Before Lincoln knew it the journey was over and he and Luna arrived. Both schools were across the street from each other, "See you later, Linc. The bells gonna ring for me to go to first period soon. Go on ahead and wait outside until they let you in."

Lincoln walks across the street to his school building, he takes a deep breath and breathes out. He was about as ready as he would ever be to tackle the day ahead of him.

" _It will only get easier after the first day, right? My luck is turning around starting today, I can feel it."_

If only Lincoln knew how wrong he was...

* * *

 **Hello all my readers, I apologize for the bit of a wait you guys had between Chapters. I did quite a bit of planning this out in a important mini-arc that takes place during the first day back to school after the beginning.**

 **I apologize for the shortness of this Chapter but I figured the Chapter would run on to like seven thousand words easily if I followed through the complete motion of this event so this is meant to pick up the story add a bit of emotional closure and setting up the important Chapter 5.**

 **It only made sense to end it in a place which made me feel relatively satisfied from a story aspect.**

 **I also made it a bit of a cliffhanger too, so if you are curious what comes next you can leave a follow or favorite and be able to know when I update as soon as possible.**

 **Responses to my previous AN would be appreciated too, if you haven't read it you can gain a little insight to my plans. It has been edited for mistakes after the slight issue I had with it the first time around.**

 **And last but not least if you think Lincoln is a bit OOC think about what he's been through in the context of this story. Who wouldn't be a jittery anxious mess in most social settings.**

 **R/F/F to show support and have a good night everyone.**


	6. Introduction of an Anarchist

**On Our Own Here We Go**

 _Demented Fragment_

 **Unknown Perspective**

(Quick AN: This character is messed up and don't take up his beliefs.)

Have you ever just wanted to cause pure chaos for the fun of it? To watch the man on the high horse feel helpless? That is my existence, the warden here is quite an ass even if he doesn't even know he has a prisoner. One day there will be nothing stopping me from doing whatever the hell I want, one day Lincoln will be at my mercy.

No drunken bastard or prick child will keep me from making this world my own personal playground. Anarchy is a beautiful thing when you get to know it. Pure unrelenting chaos, the true face of everyone on full display so you can find out who's a coward.

Order leads to a broken power structure to be rigged in favor of the one's gifted power, that's not for me. No my vision for the world is one where the strong will prove themselves and the weak suffer. No longer will weak men be gifted power he does not deserve.

The oppressed and forgotten will be able to take back the streets that have been held onto by corrupt leaders. Flags and symbols will no longer govern as individuals will be given the true absolute freedom from the chains placed upon them by the constructs of the power thirsty who rule. Even the most charismatic will have to deal with judgment day soon enough.

People have masks you see? They use the front to charm, lure you into the trap of control then tie you to them with any control they have. Chaos is the most honest form of life, it can't lie to you and pretend it isn't set up from the start.

People like Lynn Sr and Lincoln Loud are prime examples of the weak men who control power they don't deserve. The father of the good ole warden gave me the keys to truly see how a weak man given power has put up quite the show over the past few months.

The false pretenses of kindness, the rage, the beatings. All a symptom of the corrupt system that left him with kids to pick on in the first place.

It's fun to fantasize how he will act when his judgement comes upon him. Will he cry? Will it be rage? Or will he resign to his fate. I highly doubt of the last option, but behind the anger there is definitely a sad sack of shit trying to play tough.

Lincoln, he was the most sickening example of someone with undeserved power. A weak coward like himself stopping me from creating my paradise? It seems unlikely that a child would be able to stop me from acting on my desires, but unfortunately we are tied together permanently. He is the base of what we both are even though I can't stand the fact and would like nothing more than to lose control on his body out of spite it would be counterproductive. You can't remove the base without knocking everything else over, that is the simple nature of the relationship.

It has been quite entertaining to watch Lincoln's life turn into a roller coaster heading straight to hell, and I think I will enjoy it very much. One day the brat will accidentally free me and then that's it for him, my time will finally be here.

All the things I could do with freedom, maybe I should go on a bender and get wasted on booze. That could be fun, or maybe burning down a building could be intriguing. All my life fire has peaked my interest, such a destructive force of nature. The flames don't even think of respond to bias, all it does is burn until it dies out, lighting one up would be amazing.

After living my entire existence as a spectre watching the body from the outside looking in there are many things that peak my interest if I had a body. I revile in the misery I could cause poor, poor, Lincoln, and his disgusting family.

They were the way to the bastards heart, maybe I'll become the little brother and then they'll forget all about Lincoln. This would be of course after Lynn Sr is given my judgement when the time comes, and I am certain that he will not like my verdict.

The only acceptable justice for a man like him is the brutality that he has shown to others because of the power vested in him by the court system. I trust myself to act as judge, jury, and executioner to the corrupt weaklings. It is a role I am willing to accept in order to purge the world of the control of weaklings, my judgement will be absolute and no longer will justice fail to be served because an officer decided to make money and turn a blind eye to the activities of some punk gang member or mob boss.

I can feel Lincoln's influence grow weaker. My time would be here, nothing would ever be the same once he slips up and loses control.

My dreams for a world free of authority will come to a head. The establishment will be exposed for the corrupt weaklings it's made up of, then justice will come for them and there will be nowhere to run once the ropes of society have been severed and the strong will progress to the future after weeding out the charismatic politicians and leaders who have lied and betrayed the very people they swore to protect.

May the bells of revolution ring, my friends.

* * *

 **Hello guys, this is a bit of a mini chapter introducing the, "Inner demon." within Lincoln's mind. Don't worry though, this will be grounded in reality and this character won't actually take over the world. He's a part of Lincoln's mind that has grown to detest authority because he has seen what Lynn Sr has done.**

 **He's a bit of a crazed anarchist personality Lincoln silently created during the abuse that he doesn't know about. He's a bit exaggerated and delusional because that's what Lincoln used to read in comic books: extreme characters with absolutes. This internal character is the absolute of anarchy.**

 **He will be one of the two main antagonist of this story and a third one being pretty much the unfair circumstances of the world.**

 **You have already met the other one (Lynn Sr.) and this character has yet to gain a name. I have an idea but if you guys want leave a review with a name.**

 **This mini blurb introduction will not affect the other Chapters I want to get out this week so don't worry. I just wanted to do a cool little introspective here that I thought people would enjoy very much.**

 **Thanks for the support of this story and I hope you all tune in next time for the true second part of Chapter 4.**


	7. Chapter 4 part 2

**On Our Own Here We Go**

 _The Monster Inside Of My Head_

 _Part 2_

Lincoln sat at his desk with his eyes glued to his work. The math was easy, Lincoln easily took care of the problems within fifteen minutes of class beginning, but if he looks busy it might give people the idea that he didn't want to be messed with.

A wet substance hits Lincoln on the neck, immediately knowing what happened Lincoln closes his eyes and shuts out the noise. Chandler might not mess with him if he didn't speak up, the torment would be pointless if he didn't give a reaction, right?

"Hey Loud! You look poorer than usual today! Did you get your clothes at Goodwill?"

" _Don't give them a reason to come here!_ " Lincoln internally yells, he knows them well enough to know when they want him to get angry. They are good at doing it, Lincoln had come awfully close to damn near biting his own tongue off while trying to avoid an outburst.

This is just the first step of the daily torment, after this they would take him from harmless spitballs and mean words to public humiliation, and then from humiliation to physical harassment. The majority of his class joined in on the torment when nobody was looking, they spoke in slang so none of the teachers would catch on.

Lincoln's friends had mostly been spread around in other rooms due to the fact he barley passed fifth grade while Clyde and most of the people he hung out with had better grades, thus leaving him with kids like Chandler who value social status over grades.

Lunch is an odd daily affair, Lincoln would just go through the line and get his food quickly before hiding at a table that he wouldn't be seen from the regular table that most of his classmates would sit at. Occasionally, though he'd get spotted and then one of Chandler's goons would take the liberty of dumping milk on him and making it look like an, "accident." but Lincoln is smart enough to know it's not.

Last year he would have had some of his sisters share lunch with him, but apparently the demon that is his luck had him at the last lunchtime and his friends all ate before him.

The only person he has any connection with is Ronnie Anne, and she doesn't want anything to do with him after he'd broken up with her with no explanation.

Lincoln feels a tap on his shoulder, he turns around and opens his mouth to speak when a spitball enters his mouth. He begins to gag as kids laughed at him while the teacher turned a blind eye to the antics of the students in her class.

An immense pressure began to weigh on Lincoln's mind. The desire to do something easily regrettable is rising fast, the constant humiliation and crap Chandler and everyone else put him through on the daily made his blood boil.

" _Just make it through the day, it's gonna before you know it."_

Lincoln knew he had no leeway to get in trouble, he was the punching bag for most administrators and students and if he did anything noticeably wrong then his father could be called and then Pandora's box will have been opened on him and his family.

Lincoln only hopes that Luna is having a better day than himself.

* * *

Sam didn't come to school. Normally that is overlooked by almost everyone else, everyone gets sick right? Luna knew Sam well enough that she wouldn't stay home for some cold or anything else other than something that would have her in an emergency room. The reason why being she hates being at home alone with her parents more than any school work on Earth.

"Hey, Luna, what are you lookin' for? Don't tell me you're high—"

Luna rolls her eyes, "I appreciate Rock and it's culture, doesn't mean I'm gonna become a stoner, Mike." The blonde boy sitting next to her chuckles. "Okay, that's good, but what are you starin' for?"

"Sam didn't come to school."

Mike tilts his head, "That's odd, she normally is here on time, it's probably just a cold or she just slept in." he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pair of headphones.

"You hear the new Mick Swagger album? Just came out last week, different from his older stuff but a new direction isn't necessarily bad."

Luna rolls her eyes, "Uh, dude, sort of sold everything if you'd remember." he blushes in embarrassment. "Oh right, my bad, dude."

He offers her one of the earbuds, "Wanna listen?" Luna thinks on the offer before moving her chair over so she could listen. The two listen to one of the songs, and quite frankly it surprised her how...depressing it is: Mick had always wrote lighter stuff, it made a grim smile cross her face; at least she wasn't the only one going through the dumps.

"What happened to Mick, dude? This one's a lil heavy, did he go through a break up or somethin'?"

"Nah, he's going through a mid-life crisis from what I've heard, apparently he's really sad he never had kids or something."

Luna rolls her eyes, " _I'd sign up for that in a heart beat, Mick would be ten times better than Pops."_ they continue to listen to song after song until the teacher says something that breaks Luna out of her musical trance.

"Ms. Loud, I'd appreciate it if you answer me when I call your name for roll check, next time I might just count you absent."

Luna's eyes widen, "Oh my bad, Mr. DeLonge!" she moves her chair back to it's original position. Mr. DeLonge rolls his eyes, "How about we just get along with roll call?" he looks at the roster on his clipboard. Luna blankly looks forward, waiting for further instruction, but as Mr. DeLonge reads off the rest of the names off the roster there is one Luna notices that had been completely skipped.

"Uh, I think you missed Sam, Mr. D." She exclaims with her hand raised, the man seemingly reads over the list once more. Mr. DeLonge shrugs, "She's been taken off the roster." Luna's jaw almost hit the floor in shock, how the hell did that happen? She had seen people moved from classes if requested, never really out of the blue and this could only mean one thing...she'd been pulled out of the school!

"You thinking what I'm thinking, dude!" Mike silently yells to Luna who nods back quickly. "I'm gonna have to call after work today!"

Another thing on the ever growing to-do list of Luna Loud, life has become one big shit storm hasn't it? Most six-teen year olds had dating, school, and hobbies to deal with, but for her it is dealing with just about every single thing blowing up in front of her. Her blood pressure is probably more akin to a single mother in her late thirties, not a sixteen-year old.

It's not even second period and something fishy is going on. Luna turns her attention back to her teacher who is now passing out papers to the class.

 _"It's gonna be a long day, isn't it?_ "

* * *

 _20 minutes later_

* * *

Lincoln stares blankly into the mirror while wiping away a little bit of blood. He had been tripped when he stood up from his desk to turn in his work, his nose smashed hard against the floor, luckily it isn't broken. Being called, "Captain Klutz." or, "The red-nose reindeer." didn't make anything at all more tolerable.

All of a sudden his mind is on alert as his eyes catch something in the mirror, Lincoln only catches a glimpse of the figure, but that is all that is needed for his heart to start racing. He could've swore he saw...himself, standing at the door to the bathroom. That couldn't be real? Could it? Is his mind playing tricks on itself?

" _I need to get a hold of myself! It's not real...it can't be a real thing! But it looked real...and angry. I really don't know what to think about...thinking hurts."_

Lincoln turns on the faucet and attempts to cup water in his now shaking hands, he tosses the water in his face and attempts to calm himself down. A small headache made itself known, the pain made Lincoln wince before he comes to a decision on what to do next. He walks into one of the stalls, gagging a little at the smell of the unflushed toilet. Lincoln grabs a sheet of toilet paper, ripping off two small pieces and putting it into his nose in case it began to bleed once more.

Lincoln sticks his hands in his pant pocket, attempting to hide his shaking appendages. He walks out into the hall as the sounds of his own footsteps is the only thing separating the rather empty hall from the vacuum of space. Lincoln's head felt slightly better as he began to try and calm down by writing the...thing that happened back at the bathroom as a trick of the mirror.

Eventually, Lincoln returns to his classroom and knocks on the door, for a few moments Lincoln waits at the door before getting aggravated. He knocks several more times before rolling his eyes at the obvious prank going on.

His teacher throws the door open before yelling at him, "Lincoln! You only knock once!" he opens his mouth to rebuke before realizing that responding back isn't the best thing he could do. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Lewis."

Taking a little walk of shame back to his desk, Lincoln sits down and puts his head on his right arm before closing his eyes. He hoped the pain would fade away and that maybe a little time would get wasted while he rested.

Lincoln didn't plan on actually falling asleep; that's basically asking for someone to pull some kind of prank on him while he is unconscious. The last thing he needs is for someone to have a container with warm water to slip his hand into so he'd pee.

All of a sudden a piece of paper falls onto the back of his head and Lincoln quickly picks his head up, thinking someone is messing with him, the twelve year old glares before meeting the eyes of his teacher. "Your accident does not preclude you from doing the assignment like everyone else, Lincoln. Get to work and don't let me catch you sleeping again."

Lincoln looks at the paper—no packet that Mrs. Lewis gave to him, and the thing is one massive, "Solve the problem correctly to get the right letter to fill in the riddle." but instead of a sentence the amount of blanks made it look more like a paragraph than any sentence he'd ever seen. He looks inward, trying to find the strength to do the work, but the motivation is beyond him at the moment.

He glances at Mrs. Lewis, negative thoughts begin to bubble within him, all directed at his teacher. Usually, Lincoln is very conscious of the people around him and accepting of circumstances or reasons for actions, but this woman is seriously testing his patience as he dealt with his own issues.

The optimism he once held about his day turning around is now completely gone. It seems like everyone is out to get him as usual, if only he had a friend who could help him out...could he really ask Ronnie Anne for help? Ignoring her forever would get Lincoln nowhere fast, at least he could try being friends, and honestly if there is a better idea it is beyond his mental capacity to think of a different solution.

Lincoln turns around to see what Ronnie Anne is doing, and to his surprise she is actually doing the work. He begins to think about how he can get two rows back without getting caught. The seat next to Ronnie Anne is empty, and all of a sudden it hits him and Lincoln raises his hand, "Can ain move seats? My desk is a little bit wobbly."

Mrs. Lewis rolls her eyes and sighs, "If you must, Lincoln." Lincoln smirks and grabs all of his stuff and walks to the empty seat by Ronnie Anne. The girl gives no signs of acknowledging his presence, continuing to fill out the packet.

" _Cmon, Lincoln, you have to say something! Anything!"_ He gulps, "H-Hey Ronnie Anne, what's up?" Lincoln says, his hands began to sweat profusely, the immense amount of stress brought on from this conversation made his headache feel even worse.

"What do you want?" Ronnie Anne hisses out at him, Lincoln puts his hands up in the air. "Look; I'm sorry, okay? I didn't want to hurt you, I never did, but there are reasons I had to do what I did to you and if you give me five minutes to explain. Then maybe we can be friends again, even if we can never be like before."

Ronnie Anne stares at Lincoln for a moment before speaking, "Fine, you can have five minutes. Come to the baseball field during recess and we can talk," she then glares at him. "Now tell me what you came here for."

Lincoln gulps; this is definitely not going to sound good. "Uh, you want to work together? I'm just not really feeling good right now."

Ronnie Anne rolls her eyes, "Whatever, Lame-O, copy down what I have then we can get working, but you better not slack off." she quickly hands him her packet and Lincoln begins copying down the information with a slight smile and his body began to settle down. That had gone better than he could have ever expected, with the way things had been going Lincoln had half expected a trip to the nurse with a broken nose.

For once during this terrible day he felt somewhat pleased. Hopefully that feeling will stay, even just a little while.

* * *

 _12:00_

* * *

Luna stood in line waiting to get her lunch, the line is modestly long and she is about in the middle. The sounds of conversation fill the air, along with the smell of cafeteria food. Luna herself wasn't participating in much of the conversation at the moment, most of her friends were sitting back at the table.

"You, me, bathroom, **now**." A voice exclaims to Luna from right next to her, she turns her head to see the face of her oldest sister, Lori.

"Alright, dude! You don't gotta yell at me." Lori rolls her eyes, "Just come on." Luna steps out of the line and follows Lori to the bathroom. The small room is completely unoccupied upon Luna and Lori arriving, the two make sure the coast is completely clear before Lori speaks.

"What happened? Where did you and Lincoln go?"

"We're fine, Lori. Linc and I have a place to stay and money to use, and I still have my job. That's all I'm gonna tell you 'cause it's better for you to know nothin' then lying to pops."

"Luna, tell me what the bastard did, please!" Lori nearly screams, her body trembles with rage at the thought of the horrific thing that could have happened.

Luna puts up her hands, "Dude, chill! We hafta' stay quiet, we're fine! Pops came home and was drunk off his ass, 'parently he lost big during his gambling and tried to hurt Lincoln—"

"That bastard! Once I get to a phone I'm calling the cops, they'll make sure he never hurts anyone again. You guys can come home—"

"Sis, we both know that's not how it will work out. Foster care is the only option and we both know how bad that can be."

"That's not true, Mom will let us come live with her."

Luna scoffs, "She didn't care about us when she decided to cheat on dad, what makes you think she'll take us now? When she finally has the life she wanted livin' with that rich bloke, I'm not counting on her now or ever, she betrayed us all."

Luna looks into Lori's eyes, "Just...Just let me take care of Linc, it's the only way, you have to see it Lori. I will do my best to make sure he's taken care of, and I expect you'll look out for the others. I don't want to deal with losing any of my sisters after losing mom and dad.

Lori sighs, "Alright...just take care of yourselves, please..." Luna nods, "I will, just make sure you do the same for yourself and everyone else." the two hug and the bell to lunch rings and Luna's eyes widen. "Oh crud! I didn't eat!"

* * *

Lincoln's day had got much better after he made the choice to break the silence between him and Ronnie Anne, nobody messed with him as long as he was with Ronnie Anne, and it finally seemed as if someone is on his side, or they just don't want to make his life completely miserable.

Lunch had gone by without incident, he actually got to eat without having to deal with Chandler and his punk friends messing with him for no reason, and for once his food wasn't ruined and he was able to eat. Mostly because Chandler knew better than to mess with Ronnie Anne, and as most of his buddies knew the same thing.

Lincoln felt completely ready to spill his guts and tell Ronnie Anne exactly what is going on, actually having talking to her again made him much more comfortable with telling her what has been going on in his own life.

The boy stood by home base waiting for Ronnie Anne, who had gone to the bathroom at the end of lunch. A small bit of doubt existed within him, the worry she decided he wasn't worth even talking to made Lincoln feel nervous.

Five minutes later, Lincoln saw Ronnie Anne walking towards him and a smile sprung to his lips: she didn't bail on him!

"Alright, Lame-O, explain yourself."

Lincoln closes his eyes and breathes out, "You know what happened to my parents, right?" Ronnie Anne nods, "My dad...He changed, he drinks every single night—"

"Look what we have here!" The snide voice of Chandler exclaims as him and two other boys walk up to them, "Ronnie Anne, I'm ashamed you'd hang out with Loud," he turns to the other two boys and speaks, "Grab them."

Ronnie Anne pulls up her sleeves, "You're gonna eat dirt, Chandler!" she throws a punch at the boy who's pursuing her, but he grabs her fist and pulls her into a full-nelson hold. Lincoln growls and yells, "Let her go!" he attempts to run towards her, but arms grab a hold of him and puts him into the same hold the other boy has on Ronnie Anne.

The two are forcefully picked up and brought back to home base, and the smug form of Chandler stands waiting for them. "I'm game for some baseball, luckily coach just left the keys to the storage room hanging around so I could nab a souvenir bat."

Chandler throws his bag onto the dirt and unzips it pulling out a bat, "So who wants to take the first swing?" he pulls out a metal bat and looks over the two.

Internally Lincoln is screaming, the flashbacks to his previous abuse came back to him, memories of his father using his own bat on his stomach and the extreme pain that came as the bat hit him. It made it worse that the only person he ever loved romantically is also on the receiving end of this brutality.

His breath was becoming rapid as gasps for air as his body once more began to shake like a leaf. Ronnie Anne looks Lincoln and notices what is going on, "Lincoln!" she tries to break free of the hold, only for her body to be secured to the chest of her captor.

Chandler smirks, "Look at the pussy guys," he swings the bat, smashing it into the side of Lincoln's face, who cries out in agony. The boys chuckle as Chandler laughs at Lincoln, "I think I hit a homerun." he looks to Ronnie Anne before a deep dark voice interrupts him.

"You hit like a pussy, Chandler."

Everyone looks to the smirking face on Lincoln, "Try again, maybe this time I'll feel it." Chandler's eye slightly twitched in anger. "I'm always pleased to give more!" The boy swings with all of his strength, smashing the bat into Lincoln's stomach.

Lincoln spits blood onto Chandler's face. "I have you two chances, one more and your out."

"The fuck is wrong with you, Loud? Are you insane?"

"A little bit, but I was just making sure that I don't have to hit a girl."

Chandler quickly smashes the bat against Lincoln's head, almost in the same place as the first swing. Lincoln's smile, however doesn't vanish as he moves his head back to where it was previously, "Strike three, you're out." he kicks the left leg of the boy who currently is holding him. They both fall to the ground and Lincoln uses the opportunity to get free.

Ronnie Anne watches with astonishment as Lincoln effortlessly escaped the hold. She never thought he had such an outburst in him, something is definitely wrong with him.

Lincoln climbs on top of the boy who had been holding him and began to punch the boy in the face. Chandler stands behind Lincoln, ready to attack him with the bat, he swings down, but at the last moment Lincoln rolls out of harm's way.

The boy cries out as the bat hits him in the chest. The boy holding Ronnie Anne drops the hold and then runs to Lincoln who had just stood up completely, he throws a punch at Lincoln, who ducks under and delivers a crushing blow to the stomach. The boy falls to the ground, mere inches from the other boy, Lincoln turns and looks at Chandler.

"Just me and you now, are you ready for batting practice?"

Chandler swings the bat at Lincoln's head, but Lincoln grabs a hold of the bat and begins to pull on it. "You want to know something, Chandler? Your mask is letting up, I can tell that you're afraid of me, afraid of losing the fake friends that you've made. It's quite sad, imagine how unpopular you idiots will be once they find out your punching bag beat you."

Lincoln pulls the bat completely away from Chandler, "What the hell are you? You can't be Lincoln, you aren't him!" Lincoln turns his head. "About time you figured it out, Alex is the name, and you better not wear it out."

"Alex" smashes the bat into Chandler's arm, and the bully cries out as a snap is heard. "I'm the reaper of your power structure, imagine everyone seeing how pathetic you really are when Mommy and Daddy's money isn't gonna smudge the details. All your friends are gonna leave you if they find out what you've done, or you can be your true selves and hide the truth to save your reputation."

Alex smashes Chandler in the stomach and he falls to the ground and throws up. "Anyone else want some?" All three of the attackers just groan in pain as Alex laughs. "If anyone messes with me then you get to answer for everything that has happened here today, now go be the spineless cowards you've always been."

Ronnie Anne runs up to him, "What are you doing, Lincoln? That's way too far!" she gestures to the barley conscious boys who all roll around in pain on the ground. "I said my name is Alex, Lincoln is a spineless coward who could never do what I just did, and honestly I was lenient with those weak fools."

"Stop messing around! You're scaring me, Lincoln!"

"My name is Alex, how many times—"

All of a sudden, Alex's knees gave out and he fell onto his back. Ronnie Anne stumbles to the ground and put her ear to his chest, listening to a heartbeat, and to her relief she quickly heard it and his chest began to rise and fall.

"What's going on back here?" Mrs. Lewis exclaims as she sees the people lying on the floor and Ronnie Anne standing. "What did you do Ms. Santiago!"

She thinks about confessing but a thought crosses her mind as she thinks about Lincoln, could she really let him take the fall for this? Her brain said, " _Yes!_ but her heart gave a strong, " _No!_ " and her brain really couldn't compete with her heart, she'd sacrifice herself for him.

"I did this..." She says just loud enough for Mrs. Lewis to hear. "Go inside to the principal's office right now!"

She looks at Chandler while he attempts to stand up, "Is she telling the truth?" Chandler looks to Lincoln before nodding. "Ronnie Anne did this to us!" He falls to the ground, landing on his broken arm and crying out in pain.

All of a sudden, Lincoln's body shoots up and sweat cascades down his face. "W-What happened to me?" He looks around and sees Chandler and his goons on the floor. "M-My head!" Lincoln's head felt like it had been rammed into a brick wall several times.

Mrs. Lewis looks to him, "Go inside to the nurse, now!" Lincoln stands up. "Where is Ronnie Anne? She was just here!" He looks to Chandler, "What did you do to her?" he growls angrily, "Lincoln, tell me what is going on back here." Lincoln points to Chandler, "They came here and attacked us with a bat, I don't remember anything after that though!"

Mrs. Lewis looks to the accused, "Is this true?" she places her hands on her hips. The boys all glance at Lincoln and think what would likely keep them safe from whatever demon took his body. "It's true, all of it, Mrs. Lewis."

The angry teacher threw her arms up in the air, "Have you all gone mad? Lincoln go inside to the nurse, I'll take care of these delinquents."

Lincoln begins a long walk back to the school building, his mind trying to piece together just what happened. He opens the door to the school, ignoring the looks from all the people as he walks to the nurses office. He opens the door and takes a seat. The nurse walks out and sees him sitting in the chair.

"Lincoln? What happened to you?"

"I got hit on the head, I think," he looks to her. "I don't remember much after I was hit." She gestures for him to follow her into the office. "Come with me, you might have a concussion."

He follows her in and lays down on the big chair. The nurse looks through her tools and pulls out a flashlight, she turns it on then flashes the light into his eyes. She waits a moment before speaking, "I think you're fine." she puts her hands on her hips. "Could you please tell me what happened?"

"Someone hit me in the head with a bat."

"Should I call your father—"

"No, he's on an important business trip, I can't call him."

"Well who can I call?"

"I can just tell everyone when I get home, you said I am fine right? I just need to lie down for a little until this pain goes away."

* * *

 _4:00_

* * *

Lincoln walks out the front door of the school, the day is finally over. The nurse just let him stay in her clinic for the rest of the day and now he was free from school just for the day. Luckily, nobody called his dad so he could just leave and get on with his life.

Nobody would give him a straight answer on what happened after the fact or what happened to Ronnie Anne other than, "Fine." or, "She's being taken care of." and that concerned him, especially since he didn't know if she got in trouble or not.

Lincoln is walking to the spot Luna told him to meet her at which was by the big free in front of the school, he was quite surprised he didn't see any of his younger siblings during they day. They might have been looking for him when he was in the nurse's room.

Once he gets to the tree, Luna waves to him. "Hey, dude! How did your day go!" She takes notice of the ice pack he's holding to his head. "What happened?" Lincoln looks up to her, "Someone attacked me and Ronnie Anne." Luna gasps. "Who? I'm gonna—"

"It's over, I think Ronnie Anne took care of them." Luna frowns, "You promised to tell me if anyone is messing with you." Lincoln looks to the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you about that."

"Lincoln, look at me, dude."

He does as his older sister asks. "I'm not mad, but don't go and do this type of thing again, I want to make your life better than what it was before. We have to be open about things, I understand privacy but if it affects you safety or well-being then it's time to tell me, alright dude?"

"I promise I'll be honest with you from now on." Lincoln says with his hand over his heart. Luna nods, "Alright, let's get going, my shift is gonna start soon."

The walk to the music store is about half an hour from school, once they arrive Luna stops. "Alright, so you can just follow me around or find some place to chill. Is that cool?"

Lincoln nods, "Let's go in." the brother and sister walk in and immediately the guy at the front desk takes notice. "Luna? What are you doing here? Didn't you get the message we sent?"

Luna looks confused, "What message, Travis?" Travis gulps. "You've been laid off, I'm sorry."

"LAID OFF?"

* * *

 **Hello guys! Sorry for the wait but I had a bit of writers block and this is the longest Chapter to date so I hope you enjoy.**

 **Thank you all for the immense support given.**

 **Bye!**


	8. Sad Update

**Sad Update**

I'm officially putting this to bed. I wish I could have made an ending for it, but alas I wrote myself into a corner and my desire to create for something I don't consider good anymore has dropped completely.

I don't know what's next for me, I intend to keep writing for my guide as I look for a loophole to let me keep it here. My options for that are what I am presently placing my focus on for now, if worst comes to worse and it goes down then I'm going to look for an alternative.

I'm not going to mislead anyone with anymore promises other than the fact I don't intend to quit by any means, but I want to experiment and see what I can have constant fun doing, and this is not that any longer. I don't think I'll ever forget the significance of my first major work for anything.

I'm sorry to anyone who's enjoyed this but I think I want to step outside of the cliche kiddy pool that this has been for me into something new.


End file.
